Read More

More than 250 potential housing sites are already being surveyed in the west of Berkshire, as the councils look for room to build just under 3,000 homes a year.

The four councils and LEP have drawn up a list of "high level infrastructure requirements". These include:

The Third Thames Bridge

Having a railway station in Grazeley

The regeneration of Twyford railway station

Building new park and ride facilities and expanding current facilities

Improving the A33, M3 and M4

Providing more alternatives to private cars

Councillors have said if a "Garden Settlement", containing up to 15,000 homes, is built in Grazeley, Mortimer railway station could be moved to the centre of the development.

Houses which need to be built each year until 2036

West of Berkshire Spatial Planning Framework

The Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is planning to apply for millions of pounds of central Government funding on the councils' behalf, so it can be invested in infastructure.

Tim Smith, chief executive of the LEP, said this investment is "absolutely crucial".

He added: "We have a market led economy in Berkshire, worth £34 billion a year and one of the roles for us as a publicly funded organisation is to ensure the investment goes into infrastructure, to allow that market and that economy to work.

"So there is nothing really more important because it underpins the connectivity in Berkshire.